AP: US Government & Politics

Due Process Clause

is a constitutional guarantee found in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, ensuring that legal proceedings will be fair and that individuals will be given notice and an opportunity to be heard before being deprived of life, liberty, or property.

Equal Protection Clause

is a provision in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, mandating that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Unitary System

A governance system where power is concentrated in a central authority, with little or no decentralization to local governments.

Confederal System

A political system where power is held by independent states or regions, delegating limited authority to a central government.excl

Exclusive Powers

Powers specifically reserved to the national government, such as coining money, regulating interstate commerce, and declaring war.

Commerce Clause

A provision in the U.S. Constitution that grants Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with Indian tribes.

Necessary and Proper Clause

A constitutional provision that grants Congress the authority to make all laws which are necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers.Supe

Supremacy Clause

A section of the U.S. Constitution stating that federal laws take precedence over state laws when there is a conflict. It establishes the Constitution as the supreme law of the land.

Tenth Amendment

Reserves powers not delegated to the national government to the states and the people, the people, the basis of federalism.

Reserved Powers

powers not given to the national government, which are retained by the states and the people.

Concurrent Powers

Powers granted to both the states and the federal government in the constitution. 

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Constitutional clause requiring states to recognize the public acts, records, and civil court proceedings from another state.

Extradition

The officials in one state return a defendant to another state where the defendant allegedly has committed a crime.

Privileges and Immunities Clause

Constitutional clause that prevents states from discriminating against people from out of state. 

Thirteenth Amendment 

Constitutional amendment that outlaws slavery

Fourteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment that provides that persons born in the United States are citizens and prohibits states from denying persons due process or equal protection under law

Fifteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment that prohibits the denial of voting rights on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, which gave Black male citizens the right to vote.

Selective Incorporation 

The process through which the Supreme Court applies fundamental rights in the bill of rights to the states on a case by case basis. 

Devolution

Favors block grants over categorical grants, returns some policymaking authority to the states.

Grants in Aid

Federal money provided to states to implement public policy objectives

Categorical Grants

National funding to the states where spending is specifically restricted certain categories 

Mandate

Federal requirements that states must follow

Block Grant

A type of grant in aid favored by the states that gives the state officials more authority in the disbursement of federal funds

Revenue Sharing 

When the federal government apportions tax money to the states with no strings attached.